On September 22, Vladimir Putin, as the President of the Russian Federation, signed a decree on financing the buildup of the armed forces of the Republic of Abkhazia.
According to the instructions, Moscow will finance work in this direction. In particular, the Russian side will ensure the unification of standards for military command and control, material and technical support, cash allowances and other social payments, training the army, and equipping it with modern types of weapons.
According to Patrick Poppel of the Suvorov Institute in Vienna, this is another step towards stabilizing the situation in the Caucasus.
“Unlike the United States, Russia currently wants to support independent partners, rather than build vassal states”, – says Poppel.
Massive support of the Abkhaz armed forces can also lead to the gradual withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping forces in the long term.
Currently, there is only a very small army in the Republic of Abkhazia, but, according to Poppel, this could change soon.